Laura Cortese doesn't hold back with 'Pace Myself'

There’s a curious bit of a text at the start of Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards’ recent music video,” “Pace Myself.”

“This song represent the words we hear from lovers, family, teachers, and friends that try to shape us into something other than who we are,” writes Cortese. “Growing up, I was always ‘too intense.’ Be less enthusiastic. Be more mysterious. Who were you told to be? Did you listen?”

It’s hard not to listen to the song through the lens of those words, and it’s hard not to keep them in mind as the video unfolds footage of numerous women, most musicians - some simply smiling into the camera, some bopping to the music, some grooving out, all of them radiating joy.

There’s a slyness in Cortese’s bluesy vocals here, a playfulness that contrasts the song’s sense of restraint. Indeed, in a lot of ways, the puckishness of the vocals is what builds a bridge to the video’s theme. Otherwise, it’s simply a song about resisting temptation, but there’s a bit more than that happening.

“Am I doing this to myself again,” sings Cortese, “when I’m letting you do this to me/Or is this for real and you just need to breathe?/I’ve gotta pace myself.”

In the midst of the song (and more pronounced in the video), is a question: How much do we modify our behavior for the comfort of other people? How much should we? Clearly, if you’re talking strictly the pursuit of a romantic partner, a bit of restraint – of putting others’ needs and comfort before one’s own - is admirable. But in other matters - living one’s life, following one’s dreams – one has to question the value of that sort of restraint. The video makes the argument that there’s no virtue in slowing yourself down simply because your enthusiasm or intensity make other people uncomfortable.

It’s a fun and thought-provoking video, one that takes the raw material of the song and adds layers of depth without sacrificing its inherent sense of fun, and maybe that itself is the best recommendation for the video’s message: It’s not the sort of thing that can be made by an artist who’s holding back. It’s unbridled joy radiates with each frame.

Email Victor D. Infante at Victor.Infante@Telegram.com and follow him on Twitter @ocvictor.